“Swimming is a sport of sensations in an extremely difficult medium to measure, such as water,” says Hugo González de Oliveira. “Until you analyse your races, you don’t understand how and why you achieve the times you achieve, where you can improve and where it’s better to leave nothing to be done.”
Lines are never straight in the liquid that discriminates between those who adapt quickly, late, or never. Hugo González from Mallorca knows this. He was a three-time world champion at 17 years old and did not reach his peak as a senior until he was 25. After a long personal maturation, he has blossomed as a competitor and arrives in Paris with a masterful command of all styles and all race situations.
The title of world champion in the 200m backstroke, which he achieved last February, and his times that place him among the top ten in the world in the 200m backstroke – he is second in the world ranking – and the 200m medley so far in 2024, consolidate his status as a star. This Sunday he will take the plunge to compete in the 100m backstroke, the event in his program in which he is least comfortable, but in which he can make a splash, given the experience he has accumulated in university competitions. Since he joined the Bears team at the University of California at Berkeley in 2019, under the orders of David Durden, his progress has been slowly increasing. He identifies two causes: team spirit and the training method. “In the United States, they focus on intensity and technique training, unlike traditional models that prioritize large volumes,” he says. “This approach is especially relevant for middle distances such as the 200 meters.
The key is to find a balance between aerobic and anaerobic capacity, technique and speed. It is not necessary to add so many kilometres.”
Under these premises, Berkeley has produced the three fastest swimmers in the 200m backstroke so far in 2024: Ryan Murphy (1m45.33s), Hugo González (1m54.51s) and Keaton Jones (1m54.61s). “The swimmers in Berkeley are not pieces that form a team; rather, it is the team that forms each of the pieces,” he says.
“We learn from each other and, contrary to what people may believe, there is no negative rivalry. The more days we have of fast series, the more we improve.”
Hugo González has come a long way in the water. The swimming pool at La Défense is the ultimate judge.
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